Press or Bench Priming Tool??

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stodd

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Hello Everyone,

I've been using a hand priming tool for years and it is starting to hurt my hands if used for more than 100ish primers.

Does any know or have any information on other press or bench type priming tools or units? I was looking at the RCBS Auto Prime Tool and the RCBS APS Priming Tool.

Any information or advise is appreciated..
Thank you
 
If it was me, I'd go with the one that uses loose primers you buy in flats.

APS primers are harder to find in stock lately then regular primers.
And reloading the plastic APS strips will take another machine that isn't cheap.

And will make your hands hurt too when you have to reload the APS strips before using them to reload the brass!

rc
 
I use the Lee Safety Prime on my Challenger press. Works fairly well for the $20 I paid for it. Also makes priming pretty quick for a single stage.
 
If your loading on a Progressive I would press prime, if it's not a Lee. Like all ready said the primers in the std package are easier to find. Once you learn the feel of a primer bottoming out in the pocket you will not have any problem. You can not seat a primer too deep. I have crushed primers seating them and have yet have one go off in the press. All fire as they should. I press prime all my reloads.
 
rcmodel said:
If it was me, I'd go with the one that uses loose primers you buy in flats.

APS primers are harder to find in stock lately then regular primers.
And reloading the plastic APS strips will take another machine that isn't cheap.

And will make your hands hurt too when you have to reload the APS strips before using them to reload the brass!

rc
Click to expand...

Depends on your definition of "isn't cheap". The strip loader is $32 at Midway. Buy a Pro2000 progressive press and get a strip loader for free.

The hand muscles used in loading strips is different than operating a hand priming tool and their are fewer operations per primer since there are 25 primers/strip.

The APS hand primer is no different in operation than any other hand primer so to relieve stress on the hands there would be no advantage here.

The bench mounted APS tool works well. I can load 4 strips (100 primers) in less time than it takes to fill one primer tube. Strips can be pre-loaded and stored safely for a future loading session. I am not sure I would want a bunch of primer tubes left full of primers for any length of time.

I will agree, locally available, pre-loaded APS strips are rare to find. No problem when mail ordering. Make a large enough mail order for primers and powder and the hazmat fee becomes a non-issue. Get some friends to join in with the order to help as well if necessary.

The strips are re-usable. They are available unloaded as well.

Finally, the Pro2000 with the APS primer system is the only progressive press that I have that I prime on the press. I am not comfortable with the reliability of the priming systems on my Hornady or Dillon SDB progressive presses.
 
Press or Bench Priming Tool

I use the RCBS APS loader that mounts in my Redding T7 Press.

I did not have extra bench space for the bench mounted one.

I have the strip loader and find it no problem to load primers into the strips.

I like the loader as I can easily adjust how deep the primer is seated.

Good Luck

Gary
 
I have been using the press mounted APS priming system for over a year now. I can say it definitely is easier on the hands than a hand primer. It takes about the same amount of time to load strips as it does to load tubes.
 
When I bought my RCBS Pro 2000 press, it came with an APS strip loader, the tool you use to load loose primers into APS strips. I didn't use the loader at first because pre-loaded APS strips were readily available. I used APS strips to prime pistol cases on press, as one step in the progressive press loading sequence. I liked them so much that I bought an RCBS APS bench priming tool that I use to prime rifle cases.

Meanwhile, pre-loaded APS primers have become scarce in my neck of the woods, so I have resorted to using the strip loader to load my own APS strips. Not as convenient as the pre-loaded strips, but being retired with time on my hands, it's no big deal, either. I've heard that it's no more time consuming than loading primer tubes for other presses, but I've never done that so can't say one way or the other.

As for hands hurting or not, I have had hand cramps when priming a bunch of cases with a "squeeze" type priming tool, but there is no squeezing required to use the APS strip loader. After you get the primers aligned with a strip in the loader, you just push down on the loading bar to seat them in the strip. I have loaded a couple 1000 loose primers into strips at a sitting (25 primers per APS strip) and not had any fatigue or cramping problems. Just an FYI. ymmv
 
I've been using the standard RCBS Bench Mounted Priming tool for years. It's simple to use, has just the right leverage for primer seating, fast and reliable. Only thing is loading the primer tubes which isn't difficult. I very often just place a primer on the punch by hand when loading a few or up to a hundred cases from a short range trip. One thing is that it uses standard shellholders and you may want to buy extra shellholders if you want one in a press and the other on the priming tool. Highly recommended by me and others. Don't know about the APS strip version but wanted the simpler tool and to not rely on availability of strips?
 
I have been using an RCBS priming die for 3+ decades. I've never had a misfire and I feel as though I have a much better handle on seating depth and the consistency of.

GS
 
Prior to using a progressive for most of my reloading, I used the RCBS Bench Mounted priming tool for all my priming needs. This is an excellent tool requires virtually no effort on your part as the leverage is great. You can get it in either a primer tube version which I prefer or the APS version. It's fast and seats primers perfectly.
 
My RCBS bench Mounted tool bent the primer stem due to my fault (after about 25 years of use). I notified RCBS they said to return it which I did. In the time it took for the turn around I purchased the APS bench mounted tool. It was O.K.. As soon as my (new replaced for free) Bench Mounted tool was returned I sold the APS. I didn't find it as solid as the Bench mounted unit. That's just me not the product.
 
I wish I knew how to post links and pictures. What I'm talking about isn't the RCBS bench mounted primer seating tool, which is nice, but I'm referring to an RCBS Ram Priming die unit # 9165. It's an actual die that threads into the press, and it comes with both large and small ram rods, and the ram rod holder. You thread the die into the press, snap your shell holder into it just like with any die, snap the ram rod holder in the press ram, place a primer in the ram rod tip, just like you would when priming on a press, slip the brass into the shell holder and then run the press ram to full stroke and your done. Once the die is adjusted properly, it will seat every primer to very near identical depths with a full stroke of the press, which eliminates the need to develop a feel for primer depth, it's accurate to about +/- .001" consistency, brass depending.

GS
 
stodd said:
Hello Everyone,

I've been using a hand priming tool for years and it is starting to hurt my hands if used for more than 100ish primers.

Does any know or have any information on other press or bench type priming tools or units? I was looking at the RCBS Auto Prime Tool and the RCBS APS Priming Tool.

Any information or advise is appreciated..
Thank you
Click to expand...
Which press are you loading on?

Which hand primer are you using?

Does your press have on-board priming capabilities?

I load my handgun ammo on a Lee Classic Turret press and I install the primers on the press with a Safety Prime and the on-board primer attachment. For rifle ammo I use an RCBS hand primer and I load on a RCBS Rockchucker. I could install the primers on the press but i like to do them by hand with rifle cartridges and the RCBS is comfortable no matter how many I load.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/329291/rcbs-hand-priming-tool?cm_vc=ProductFinding
 
I am partial to the Lee Safety Primer Feed myself. If it is set up correctly it works fine and as all things Lee, you can't beat the price.
 
I've never used a hand primer. I started out with the RCBS bench mounted primer machine many many years ago, and found it to work perfectly. I've used the primer seater on a Rockchucker, and found the bench mounted one to be more to my liking, since I process reloads in batches anyhow. I tried the Lee safety prime on the turret press, but still went back to the bench mount RCBS.
Just my experiences
 
I really like the APS primer seaters. Presently using the hand primer, but would not hesitate to get the bench mounted version.
 
I've been using the RCBS Automatic Bench Priming Tool for several decades and find it to be a great way to prime. I like to do all my reloading processes at the bench. I like it because it's quick and easy to use. Once you get the rhythm, it's quick and I really like the feel....you know when you've bottomed out the primer.

I load on a Rockchucker and I like to load using loading blocks in batches of 50 or 100 and the tool just works very well for me and my method. I have no issues with loading the tubes and it really takes very little time.
 
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